Murder Mystery.....Dessert!

My dear friend, Melissa, celebrated her 29th birthday (for the 7th time) by hosting a Murder Mystery Dinner Party. "A Taste for Wine and Murder" was the theme....you can purchase these box or downloadable sets online and they are a lot of fun if you have the right group of people to play along. 

The body of Barry Underwood, owner of a California vineyard, has been found hidden under his wine cellar. One of the following suspects has committed this heinous crime: Marilyn Merlot, Papa Vito, Tiny Bubbles, Ralph Rottingrape, Hedy Shablee, and Otto Von Schnapps.

We all dressed up, a little, to play our role and shared a fabulous meal which Melissa had prepared. I volunteered to bring the dessert. My first instinct was to make a cake.....seeing how it was a birthday and all, but I finally decided on "Jim Frye's Sacred Dessert Recipe" which can be found in the Sweet Potato Queens Field Guide to Men on page 229. I figured after a heavy Italian meal and lots of wine no one would want to indulge in a big-ass piece of cake.....but slurpy strawberries over ice cream, well that's another story!

Ralph Rottingrape, Tiny Bubbles, Marilyn Merlot, Papa Vito and Otto Von Schnapps.

Ya starts off with lots of butter and brown sugar.........

Then add lots of yummy strawberries.

Even though HRH Jill suggests NOT adding Grand Marnier and lighting this dish....I decided it was a nice alternative to birthday candles. However....we could not, try as we might, get it to go up in flames. Should of used vodka!

And here you have it......Jim Frye's Sacred Dessert Recipe - Dig in!

Cosmic Climax Cookie Cake

Is it wrong that I decided to make Cosmic Climax Cookie Cake for an 80 year old on Mother's Day? Wrong or not, it WAS cosmic! This flourless cake is so moist and delicious, with a little crunch....perfect combination of ingredients. And it was a winner, as well....I even had a close friend texting me that evening asking about the cake; trying to live vicariously through it, she said (don't worry, I saved her a hunk). Super easy to make, crushing the wafers was the most time-consuming task....but well worth it in the end :)

This recipe can be found in the Sweet Potato Queens Big-Ass Novel, page 289.  

The ingredients

Cream butter, sugar and eggs

Crush the vanilla wafers

Mix ALL ingredients together

Place in bundt pan

Bake low and slow

Nice golden brown.....NO icing needed

Makes a great breakfast cake, too!

Taters & Slaw

Company is coming for Easter....."what can I make, what can I make, what can I make?"

Lou's Slaw and Lawyerly Taters from the Sweet Potato Queens Big-Ass Cookbook, these should go very nicely with the Honey Baked Ham. 

As a matter of fact....they DID go nicely! Everyone raved over the entire dinner, but after a half case of champagne I doubt they'd know the difference. And that's where my confession comes in - my laziness got the best of me on this one and it didn't quite pan out this time. I got the bright idea that making the Lawyerly Taters in the crock pot would save LOTS of time and energy. It did...but not without "probably" sacrificing the taste of them (and even after 5 hours the taters were still a little on the hard side). Any longer in that crock pot and they would have had full blown scorch taste....thank gawd I turned them off when I did.

Lou's Slaw, on the other hand, was WONDERFUL. It was a crunchy cole slaw made with Ramen Noodles.....there are whole cookbooks devoted to cooking with Ramen Noodles, well I don't know about any of the other recipes but this one is a keeper for sure. 

I'm slightly embarrassed to even include this photo of the Lawyerly Taters, but HEY...I'm only human, I DO make mistakes every once in a blue moon.

Lou's Slaw - Lou is a God in my book, even if she didn't quite come up with this completely on her own.

Join the Revolution.....Breakfast for Dinner!

My southern friend, Julie, was coming to visit and requested AT LEAST one day of SPQ food. Julie is the saint that introduced me to the SPQ books. However, Julie has never been to an SPQ weekend in Jackson, MS.....We're gonna have to change that!

I thumbed through my collection of ALL Sweet Potato Queen books and decided on Country Club Eggs (from the Sweet Potato Queens Big-Ass Cookbook and God Save the Sweet Potato Queens) and Blessed Bacon Biscuits (from the Sweet Potato Queens Big-Ass Novel).... Who DOESN'T love breakfast for dinner!??? Country Club Eggs was another of those recipes I've hesitated making, just didn't sound too appetizing...boy was I proven wrong AGAIN.....sheer masterpiece!  Blessed Bacon Biscuits - Well....bacon + biscuits = melt-in-your-mouth-amazingness.

About to go in the oven....adding slices of Velveeta to the top.

Eggs and Biscuits are baking.....biscuits are filling the room with bacon aroma :)

Country Club Eggs - Fit for a King!

The recipe called for rolling out the biscuit dough and using a cutter....I'm too dang lazy for that crap so I dropped them instead. They tasted the same, I'm sure!

Hold on to your chair...... It's BAKED deviled eggs!

Join the revolution..... Breakfast for Dinner!

Don't judge a book by its cover - I know this doesn't look very good but trust me....it's delicious!

Motor Home Marvel - Variation

This has to be the 5th time I've made this recipe from the Sweet Potato Queen Big-Ass Cookbook.

It ALWAYS goes over WELL! Everyone loves ice cream cakes....this is as EASY as it gets and no one would no it wasn't from your local Dairy Queen (but we LOVE the Dairy Queen.....cause she's a QUEEN).

This time around I spruced up the top of the Motor Home Marvel ice cream cake with mini M&Ms....loved the extra "crunch" they gave every little bite.

Now doesn't that just SCREAM Happy Birthday!

Armadillo Tails

Tonight, it's all about jalapeno peppers, cream cheese, chicken, and......BACON!
I just LOVE being invited to a pot-luck....it gives me even more reason to try out a new SPQ recipe. For this event, I decided to go with Armadillo Tails from the Sweet Potato Queens Field Guide to Men.
I've put off making this one because I, personally, don't like jalapeno poppers and therefore figured I would hate these as well. WRONG! It took me most of the night to get the nerve to try one, but when I did I then couldn't stop eating them. Just goes to show you should give EVERYTHING at least one chance.

Jalapenos are cut in half, seeded, and stuffed with filling.

Bacon is wrapped around the peppers and stabbed with a colorful pick.

Armadillo Tails are placed on a cooling rack on top of a foil lined baking sheet for baking.

Baked to perfection and ready to "party"!

Mouth-watering, isn't it!

March Madness

Two new recipes to add to the "Conquered" list.
BACON MONKEY BREAD
I've been waiting for the perfect moment to try this one out....not that you really need a "perfect" moment for such a thing. This is a fairly easy recipe, more prep time than anything else. It turned out beautifully....as you can see. I would definitely suggest using a whole pack of bacon, and I think if I made it again I would use provolone or cheddar cheese instead of parmesan.....the end result seemed a little dry, I just felt it needed some gooey-ness.  However, that DID NOT keep the masses from devouring it! I'm not sure if it was the particular grocery store I went to, if it's a southern thing, OR if they just stopped making them.....but I couldn't find 10 ounce cans of biscuits. So I used 4 - 7.5 ounce cans, which I think worked out better with the layering. One party-goer said that despite the mega fat content, it was surprisingly light and airy....hence my need for a gooier cheese. And....due to the easy pull-apart construction, even the most inebriated party goer can partake with little effort and without the use of a sharp instrument.

First layer of Bacon Monkey Bread.

Layers complete....ready for the oven.

Voila! Time to dig in!

LAZY, LOW-RENT, AND LUSCIOUS PECAN PUDDIN'

This has to be the EASIEST dessert one could ever make. I'm technically not suppose to give out the recipes here, but......I'm not sure what I could really write about it without telling you the BEST part. Two ingredients: a whole pecan pie and a large tub of cool whip....that's it! Basically, instead of putting cool whip on your pie...you put pie in your cool whip.

Smash up the pie, mostly the crust cause you can't really smash up the filling....it will get mixed and stirred in when you add the tub of cool whip. Stir thoroughly and enjoy!

This stuff is divine and ohhhhh so sweet. It was also a huge hit at the party, and everyone was asking how to make it.....they were flabbergasted when I told them how. I even got to plug my blog....AND THE SPQ.....to a couple of party goers. If you're going to serve this to more than 4 people...I would suggest doubling the recipe....in other words TWO pecan pies and TWO large tubs of cool whip.

Smashed up pecan pie.

Finished product...nicely displayed in a little serving dish with an extra scoop of whipped topping....you can never have enough whipped topping!